Dice [Exalted] O Brave New World (OOC)

[D. Rex]

One common theme from stories like this is a mechanism to 'punish' the bound evil. You can coerce them into doing most anything you want when you absolutely need to, but the more you rely on dispensing punishment to get your way the more you sour the relationship, and the more grudging their help. Push too far and they'll rebel. Erembour is imprisoned inside you, but the ritual was never meant to seal her inside a person, and the binding is imperfect. It binds her mind (intellect, memories, etc) as much as her power, so she spends a lot of the day sleeping to husband her strength to fight the bonds when she's conscious. She doesn't enjoy thinking with a hobbled mind. Her dreams play out in your shadow, making it monstrous. While conscious, with considerable effort she can perceive and act upon the world around you. When you die she'll be sent back to Malfeas, but while you're alive she may yet figure out how to slip her bonds and go free, so she has a vested interest in keeping you alive. It is her nature as an emanation of the Ebon Dragon to escape all prisons - eventually. Nothing says she can do it quickly. This also avoids your one year time limit problem, unless you liked that aspect.

In the meantime, if you concentrate very hard you can fully bind her for a scene (at a cost of 1 WP and a -2 penalty to anything that requires concentration. That makes your shadow return to normal among other things.). You can also impose a punishment, the nature of which I can devise or you can offer suggestions, at will. Likely triggered by a spoken phrase or incantation. It's both deeply unpleasant and disruptive (super spray bottle for the cat), so it can be used to interrupt whatever she's doing. Similarly, for 1 WP you can temporarily weaken the bindings that hold her, giving her a much greater capacity to act for one scene.

Hazel was more into the practice of enticing those she summons rather than brute force rule. Or so she was with lesser summons. She did not mind offering her subjects a little bit extra in order to get better results. And would tend to reserve punishment for those that tried to take advantage of her generosity. As well as repeat business to those she favored, and possible other rewards.

While Erembour is by no means a lesser demon, Hazel would try to employ a similar strategy. She would rather give Erembour incentive to test the strength of the seal, but an amiable Erembour could find her prison more of a house arrest than maximum security confinement.

Hazel is not so sour about Erembpurs presence that she would go out of her way to make things miserable for her unless Erembour was being a butt.

But then again, Erembour might know of Hazel's declaration that she is considering finding a way to completely destroy the demon. So regardless of if she believes it or not, provoking Hazel too much does have consequences as opposed to simple cooperation, which might have the girl reconsider. Hazel didn't seal Erembour out of revenge or hatred of demons, but rather to keep her from causing trouble in creation until things are sorted out.

That said, I do better like the idea of Erembour speaking to Hazel in her head. Be it genuine or sassy commentary. And a bit of banter back and forth could be fun. Though a mechanic to punish and reward Erembour could come in handy.

I dont think Hazel will mind her shadow being in Erembour control all that much. Might even things its cool and theatrical. It might even be pretty amusing for Hazel to be doing one thing and her shadow doing something completely different Peter pan style. Hazel might even offer that sort of embodiment of her shadow to keep the peace.

As for the weirdness of the seal, I think would be fun to keep it a mystery of how inclined the seal made them become. Like if death would release her or cause something else to happen. Might give her another reason to keep Hazel alive, and another reason for Hazel to take care of the seal.


Also! I should point out that Hazel has another mutation from the wyld, an odd mouth on the tip of her tail. Now Hazel believes that there is a god that lives in there that she calls the Storyteller. A being which Erembour is sharing headspace with. Though if it actually exists or not is yet to be determined if its real or just a bit of wyld induced madness.. But it wouldn't be impossible for Erembour to use it.

 

[Rykon]

Now that I think about it, I didn't think through establishing a negative connection yet. Only negative intimacies I have down at the moment are towards Erembor and Sassarin sorcerers. Given the location change, the latter of which may not stick around on the sheet.

I guess there's one by proxy. He wouldn't tolerate much aggression or pressure against Hazel for binding demons. It does make her somewhat of the nexus of negative connections at the moment. Seems lazy and more a response than a connection, but it would be the natural flow of things.

Not sure I want to set the stage to be a Zenith cast Solar making friends with two Solar-Lunar couples that bicker at each other until her patience wears thin.

How intensely negative is the type of connection you'd like to see Random Word ? I have some ideas to change things up a bit.

 

[Random Word]

How intensely negative is the type of connection you'd like to see

I have no strong opinion on the subject. Whatever sounds fun to you and another player. Probably stronger than, "You put pineapple on pizza?" "You don't?" (but that could be funny). Probably weaker than, "I am John Latrans. You killed my father. Prepare to die." (Much drama). Nothing is forbidden.

 

[D. Rex]

Now that I think about it, I didn't think through establishing a negative connection yet. Only negative intimacies I have down at the moment are towards Erembor and Sassarin sorcerers. Given the location change, the latter of which may not stick around on the sheet.

I guess there's one by proxy. He wouldn't tolerate much aggression or pressure against Hazel for binding demons. It does make her somewhat of the nexus of negative connections at the moment. Seems lazy and more a response than a connection, but it would be the natural flow of things.

Not sure I want to set the stage to be a Zenith cast Solar making friends with two Solar-Lunar couples that bicker at each other until her patience wears thin.

How intensely negative is the type of connection you'd like to see Random Word ? I have some ideas to change things up a bit.

What about we expand it outward? A negative connection can run the gambit of emotions. Maybe there is somebody he fears or is saddened by.

Lol though it does tickle me that Hazel does seem to be a nexus of negative emotion. It wouldn't be much of a stretch for him to be annoyed with Hazel either.

Maybe Atusa left a negative review on one of his special dishes and he is annoyed by it. And desperate to make a dish that pleases her picky palate.


Of which! jaydude will need the connections to for his xp. Most seem to be between her underlings so we need to give Atusa some opportunities too.

 

[D. Rex]

jaydude

I was thinking, given that Atusa seems a pretty big up and comer, she likely has a few sycophantic sorcerers looking to attach themselves to her already. And with them, wouldn't have much reason to give much merit to strange sorcereress spouting mad drivel about visions and that she must serve Atusa.

I was thinking of having Hazel give the gift of Harvest gem and manse to Atusa to get her attention so that she will be chosen.

 

[Rykon]

I've used tragedy in backstories often enough that I think I should lean on something other than sadness. I'd argue up to this point, it's nothing beyond what I've witnessed in everyday life. Loss is easy to relate to, sadly.

Instead of that, I have a couple of different ideas.

One is that the restaurant could have suffered the abuses of corrupt authorities. Could even be an ongoing feud with certain individuals farther down the chain of command, but still reflect against Atusa. A judge/magistrate or guard sergeant has plenty of room to make an ass of themself after all.

The other idea is a merchant union run by guild members railing against taxes and such. With the perception that Sassarin powers could be losing their grip, Atusa could be facing significant pressure to reform and relax policies. Her struggle would be trying not to get swindled by a sweet talking merchant prince looking to take advantage of silver and bronze supplies in the area. I don't have John as a card carrying guildsman, but he is within the merchant class as a loose association.

These aren't mutually exclusive. Both could be antagonistic forces causing tension between John and Atusa.

Any thoughts jaydude ? I don't want to push for any aspects about your organization that you don't want to see.

 

[D. Rex]

Random Word
Since you want a flat xp rate on abilities and attributes, is there a flat rate on merits too?

 

[Random Word]

Merits always have a flat rate! 3 xp per dot if I recall.

 

[D. Rex]

Merits always have a flat rate! 3 xp per dot if I recall.

That's what I thought, but apparently its been "new rating x3"

But 3xp per dot seems better to me.

 

[Rykon]

I've seen many rule that each new merit dot is 3xp per dot. So that standard is not abnormal by any means. Wouldn't even surprise me if someone told me it was errata by the new writers.

Because frankly, I think the original decision that a merit like resources costs 45 total xp instead of 15 is stupid. No merit at any rating is 4 evocations or 5 charms worth of benefit. Period. The cost-benefit disparity is a large part of why splat XP was so nice. Cause it eliminated having to weigh buying the next charm, or a mundane trait that was far less interesting and still very costly.

 

[Random Word]

It was just a misunderstanding from unclear wording. You can't buy merits dot by dot. You can only buy them at their dot rating. The part they omitted was: "If you buy a merit you already have at a higher rating to replace an existing merit, you subtract the cost of the existing merit."

When you buy Resources 5 you don't buy 1, then 2, then 3... you just buy 5. So you pay the 3x number of dots XP. If you already had Resources 3, you subtract 9 XP from the cost.

 

[Rykon]

That makes a lot of sense given how merits don't always naturally scale like 2E backgrounds did, even if they look identical on the surface.

 

[jaydude]

Yeah, soz for taking so long to reply. Been on quite the Crusader Kings 3 binge these last few days.

jaydude
I was thinking, given that Atusa seems a pretty big up and comer, she likely has a few sycophantic sorcerers looking to attach themselves to her already. And with them, wouldn't have much reason to give much merit to strange sorcereress spouting mad drivel about visions and that she must serve Atusa.

I was thinking of having Hazel give the gift of Harvest gem and manse to Atusa to get her attention so that she will be chosen.

Interesting idea, and one that I wouldn't mind running with, though I'm not quite sure how commonplace sorcerers and sorcery are among the Faqari clans. So even if Atusa know sorcery exists, Hazel might not have much competition with regards to getting into her good graces.

 

[jaydude]

I've used tragedy in backstories often enough that I think I should lean on something other than sadness. I'd argue up to this point, it's nothing beyond what I've witnessed in everyday life. Loss is easy to relate to, sadly.

Instead of that, I have a couple of different ideas.

One is that the restaurant could have suffered the abuses of corrupt authorities. Could even be an ongoing feud with certain individuals farther down the chain of command, but still reflect against Atusa. A judge/magistrate or guard sergeant has plenty of room to make an ass of themself after all.

The other idea is a merchant union run by guild members railing against taxes and such. With the perception that Sassarin powers could be losing their grip, Atusa could be facing significant pressure to reform and relax policies. Her struggle would be trying not to get swindled by a sweet talking merchant prince looking to take advantage of silver and bronze supplies in the area. I don't have John as a card carrying guildsman, but he is within the merchant class as a loose association.

These aren't mutually exclusive. Both could be antagonistic forces causing tension between John and Atusa.

Any thoughts jaydude ? I don't want to push for any aspects about your organization that you don't want to see.

Hmm. I'm not really fond of either idea, truth be told. For the first one, I'd like to think that Atusa, being a Zenith, would be able to curb such corruption in favor of maintaining clan unity and an honest reputation. For the second one, I don't know if you're referring to the actual Guild here, but if so, I envisioned the Hematti as not being dependent on them to survive, though I may change that if the Guild do in fact have a sizable presence in the Achaean valley.

Also, I don't yet know if I even want there to be any friction between Atusa and John at the start of the game.

 

[Rykon]

Hmm. I'm not really fond of either idea, truth be told. For the first one, I'd like to think that Atusa, being a Zenith, would be able to curb such corruption in favor of maintaining clan unity and an honest reputation. For the second one, I don't know if you're referring to the actual Guild here, but if so, I envisioned the Hematti as not being dependent on them to survive, though I may change that if the Guild do in fact have a sizable presence in the Achaean valley.

Also, I don't yet know if I even want there to be any friction between Atusa and John at the start of the game.

That works just as well. I didn't want to leave you hanging for negative connections if you needed to create one for XP. I also support Atusa pushing for her clan and nation to be more independent from neighboring powers for what it's worth.

Instead of a negative one, would you prefer a positive connection? If so, what would you like to see?

 

[jaydude]

That works just as well. I didn't want to leave you hanging for negative connections if you needed to create one for XP. I also support Atusa pushing for her clan and nation to be more independent from neighboring powers for what it's worth.

Instead of a negative one, would you prefer a positive connection? If so, what would you like to see?

Well, I did envision her knowing all about Solars and Lunars through either her Exaltation vision, or stories passed down through the clan. So while she wouldn't just blindly trust them, she would be interested in getting other Celestials on her side, and getting to know them better. Perhaps John could have come to the Hematti settlement at some point in the near past, and used his skills to build up a rapport/friendship with her, making himself useful to the clan in the process?

Thinking about it a bit more, if there's one person Atusa's going to have a negative connection with, it's probably Hazel, since she's the one who apparently has a Third Circle Demon contained within her body.

 

[Rykon]

Thinking about it a bit more, if there's one person Atusa's going to have a negative connection with, it's probably Hazel, since she's the one who apparently has a Third Circle Demon contained within her body.

I think the ripple effect of that alone has now served as the one great negative connection. Like Frodo and the ring, Hazel bears a heavy burden that all of us fear. We may respect it, we may question it, but none of us want to simply set that thing loose and in turn set all of southern earth in second darkness.

Well, I did envision her knowing all about Solars and Lunars through either her Exaltation vision, or stories passed down through the clan. So while she wouldn't just blindly trust them, she would be interested in getting other Celestials on her side, and getting to know them better. Perhaps John could have come to the Hematti settlement at some point in the near past, and used his skills to build up a rapport/friendship with her, making himself useful to the clan in the process?

How about John's restaurant is in a nearby territory, not Faqari, but similarly under the thumb of the Sassarin. In his time studying new trades in Hematti lands, he's made gifts to Atusa of the work he's most proud of. Tailored clothes, jewelry, armor, medicines, and most importantly food. An ambitious master of top tier dining is always looking to assimilate the styles, tricks, and ingredients of other cultures to expand their horizons.

 

[jaydude]

How about John's restaurant is in a nearby territory, not Faqari, but similarly under the thumb of the Sassarin. In his time studying new trades in Hematti lands, he's made gifts to Atusa of the work he's most proud of. Tailored clothes, jewelry, armor, medicines, and most importantly food. An ambitious master of top tier dining is always looking to assimilate the styles, tricks, and ingredients of other cultures to expand their horizons.

Sure, that works for me. It'll probably get him points with the rest of the clan as well, seeing as their leader seems to like him.

 

[Random Word]

Just for the record, I doubt any of you actually know the difference between a First Circle and a Third Circle Demon. John, at Occult 3, might be familiar with a demonic taxonomy of power broken down into circles (though it may well have more than three depending on how it was compiled and how 'power' was measured), depending on where he studied, but the rest of you wouldn't know Erembour from a Blood Ape, a Raksha, or a particularly scary looking Elemental. Even John wouldn't know Erembour's name or know how to determine she was a Third Circle Demon. You likely already distrust Sorcerers on principle if you aren't Sassarin, and learning one had a demon imprisoned inside them would just be par for the course. 'Yeah, of course Sorcerers do stupid/weird things like that - why do you think everyone mistrusts them?'

Unless Hazel goes out of her way to explain the immense significance of what she's done it would in no way be immediately obvious. She may want to do just that, but you certainly won't take one look at her when you meet and declare, "By Saturn! That cat-woman has a powerful emanation of the Ebon Dragon, The Shadow of All Things, unbound but imprisoned within her soul!"

 

[jaydude]

Just for the record, I doubt any of you actually know the difference between a First Circle and a Third Circle Demon. John, at Occult 3, might be familiar with a demonic taxonomy of power broken down into circles (though it may well have more than three depending on how it was compiled and how 'power' was measured), depending on where he studied, but the rest of you wouldn't know Erembour from a Blood Ape, a Raksha, or a particularly scary looking Elemental. Even John wouldn't know Erembour's name or know how to determine she was a Third Circle Demon. You likely already distrust Sorcerers on principle if you aren't Sassarin, and learning one had a demon imprisoned inside them would just be par for the course. 'Yeah, of course Sorcerers do stupid/weird things like that - why do you think everyone mistrusts them?'

Unless Hazel goes out of her way to explain the immense significance of what she's done it would in no way be immediately obvious. She may want to do just that, but you certainly won't take one look at her when you meet and declare, "By Saturn! That cat-woman has a powerful emanation of the Ebon Dragon, The Shadow of All Things, unbound but imprisoned within her soul!"

Right. Thanks for the info.

 

[Rykon]

Anything John knows about sorcery presently, he'd have learned from Hazel I think. So other than the horrifying shadow and asking questions about it, what he'd know would largely be at the whims of memory and what she decides to tell him.

 

[Random Word]

but the rest of you wouldn't know Erembour from a Blood Ape, a Raksha, or a particularly scary looking Elemental.

Well, now that I think on it, that's not quite fair. Atusa has been in Sassarin cities, and even Sassarin armies. She's seen bound demons and elementals carrying out civic duties and arrayed for battle. She would likely have picked up by osmosis the names of many common demons and elementals, how to recognize them, and the basics of how to behave around them (Don't laugh around Amphelisiae, etc). John has probably at least spent some time in one of the big cities, so he would also have some passing familiarity with commonly summoned demons and elementals. Erembour isn't a name you'd recognize, and you wouldn't have seen any Second and higher circle demons so the idea they were strongly stratified by power wouldn't be obvious, but you would know a few things Erembour wasn't if you saw her. She doesn't look like the sorts of Raksha, Demons, or Elementals you're used to seeing. She doesn't look like a Djinn. She looks sort of like a Goddess, really, so if you weren't told she was a demon you might assume she was some kind of God of Night, which isn't that far off the truth.

Anything John knows about sorcery presently, he'd have learned from Hazel I think. So other than the horrifying shadow and asking questions about it, what he'd know would largely be at the whims of memory and what she decides to tell him.

So Hazel initiated you into Sorcery, and has been teaching you for several months when the game begins?

How about John's restaurant is in a nearby territory, not Faqari, but similarly under the thumb of the Sassarin.

Any thoughts on who these people are? Culture, demography, geography, power, wealth, etc wise? Anything that makes them stand out?

 

[D. Rex]

Haha! I dont mind at all for Hazel bearing the brunt of the negativity. I think it could give me a fun challenge. And I do love me a good bit of drama so long as everybody's on board. So don't worry about doing your worst to her, as I know its IC rather than OOC unfriendliness. (Just in case anyone might feel bad about treating a fellow players char poorly)


There isn't much hiding Hazel's connection to demons. She will have a few as attendants and her shadow speaks for itself. Not to mention the reputation already set forth by other Lunar sorcerers.

That said, it should also be easy to see her as an asset worth having around. For I will be having a nuetral tie of subservience to Atusa, as Hazel believes that is what her purpose here is. To see that Atusa becomes great.



Hazel won't likely reveal Erembour. At least not right away. Could save it for a dramatic moment or to those she would trust with the knowledge. But it is knowledge that could get her in deep trouble. And not just with the sassafras's sorcerers.

 

[Rykon]

So Hazel initiated you into Sorcery, and has been teaching you for several months when the game begins?

As long as it's okay for him to have a different shaping ritual, then yes. I picked one that reflected a more academic background rather than Scarred by Nightmares.

Any thoughts on who these people are? Culture, demography, geography, power, wealth, etc wise? Anything that makes them stand out?

Hmm, nothing specific in mind since it was an off the cuff suggestion. I'll see what I can come up with to breathe some life into it.

 

[Random Word]

As long as it's okay for him to have a different shaping ritual, then yes. I picked one that reflected a more academic background rather than Scarred by Nightmares.

Well, I doubt Hazel's preferred method of initiating you into sorcery was dragging you out into the Wyld until you were scarred. How exactly she would go about teaching sorcery I leave up to D. Rex. Yes, you can have a different shaping ritual from your teacher.

Hmm, nothing specific in mind since it was an off the cuff suggestion. I'll see what I can come up with to breathe some life into it.

I can always come up with something need be, but if you have any ideas you want to toss out let me know.